Golf Championship

Middlebury Set to Host NESCAC Golf Championship

Apr 22, 2014

Panthers Seek Fourth Title in Six Years

HADLEY, Mass. – Four teams aim to capture a
conference crown at the 2014 NESCAC Golf Championship this weekend
at Ralph Myhre Golf Course in Middlebury, Vt. Host Middlebury will
welcome Trinity, Amherst and defending champion Williams to the
two-day championship. Teams will tee off at 11 a.m. on Saturday,
April 26 and at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 27.

The Panthers earned the right to host the spring championship
after claiming a 17-stroke win at the NESCAC Championship
Qualifier, held September 28-29 at Brunswick Golf Club in
Brunswick, Maine. Middlebury built a 14-stroke lead after firing a
team score of 292 on Day One, and never looked back as it followed
up with a score of 303 the next day. All five Panthers
received All-NESCAC honors. Middlebury is seeking its fourth
conference title in six years and sixth overall. The Panthers won
back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.

Junior John Louie (Salinas, Calif.) paced
Middlebury with a two-round score of 145 (+1) to be named NESCAC
Player of the Year. Senior teammates Rob Donahoe
(Canton, Mass.) and Chris Atwood (Rochester, N.H.)
finished second and fourth, respectively, behind Louie. Donahoe was
one stroke back at 146, while Atwood carded a two-day total of 150
en route to being named First Team All-NESCAC. Junior Eric
Laorr (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and first-year Fitz
Bowen (Kenilworth, Ill.) fired identical rounds of 154 to
finish tied for ninth place and receive Second Team All-NESCAC
honors. At the Williams Spring Invitational, the Panthers finished
in second place with a two-day total of 601. Donahoe led the way,
tying for fourth place after carding a 148 (+6). Junior
Charlie Garcia (Garden City, N.Y.) finished tied
for 10th with a two-round score of 153 (+11).

At the fall qualifier, Trinity was the model of consistency,
posting back-to-back rounds of 306 to finish in second place.
Sophomore Jeff Durkin (Scituate, Mass.) fired
identical rounds of 74 to pace the Bantams with a total of 148
(+4), garnering him First Team All-NESCAC accolades with the
third-place showing. Durkin was joined on the first team by junior
Greg Palmer (Cheshire, Conn.), the 2012 NESCAC
Player of the Year. Palmer tied for fifth after posting a two-day
score of 152 (+8). Junior Nick Buenaventura
(Weston, Mass.) landed on the All-NESCAC Second Team with a
two-round total of 155 (+11). Last weekend at the Williams’
Spring Invitational, Palmer garnered medalist honors with a two-day
score of 142 (E) to help the Bantams finish fifth after posting a
team result of 614. The next highest Trinity finisher was
Buenaventura, who tied for 17th with a 155 (+13).

After the first day of the fall qualifier, Amherst sat in fifth
place with a round of 317, but stormed back the next day with a 302
to leap into third place and advance to the spring championship for
the first time since 2010. Sophomore James Line
(Glastonbury, Conn.) led the charge with a two-day total of 152
(+8), which landed him on the All-NESCAC First Team. He was joined
on the all-conference team by junior Josh Moser
(San Francisco, Calif.), who shot a 155 (+11). This spring, Amherst
won the Westport Hampton Inn Invitational with a two-round total of
634, while Moser took medalist honors with a 152. At Williams, the
Jeffs took sixth following a two-round total of 622. Senior
Nicholas Koh (Singapore) led the way with a
combined score of 149 (+7), which was good for seventh. Four
strokes back was junior Jarvis Sill (Portola
Valley, Calif.), who tied for 10th at 153 (+11). The Jeffs have won
eight conference titles, which ranks second among NESCAC teams, but
have not captured the trophy since 1997.

Defending champion Williams will look for its 12th conference
championship this weekend. The Ephs (307) trailed Trinity (306) for
third place by a single stroke after day one, and held on to secure
the final spring championship berth with their performance on
Sunday. Seniors Dylan Dethier (Williamstown,
Mass.) and Cody Semmelrock (Pomfret Center, Conn.)
led the Ephs with a two-day total of 155 (+11), good for a tie in
12th place. Both golfers earned All-NESCAC Second Team awards.
Earlier this spring, Williams turned in a two-day total of 590, one
stroke ahead of Middlebury (591), to win the NYU Invitational.
First-year Grant Raffel (Palo Alto, Calif.)
recorded a birdie on the first playoff hole to earn medalist honors
after carding a two-round total of 144. The Ephs extended their hot
streak last weekend, taking top honors at their Spring Invitational
with a team score of 593, which was eight strokes ahead of
Middlebury. Raffel also continued to play well, as he finished tied
for second following a two-round total of 147 (+5). Right behind
him was junior Jake Goldenring (Florham Park,
N.J.), who tied for fourth after firing a 148 (+6).

The origin of the Ralph Myhre Golf Course traces back to the
1920s, with the construction of the original nine holes taking
place before the end of the decade. During the Great Depression the
land was mortgaged and the course was not used at all during World
War II. After the war, the property was leased to Middlebury
College before it was eventually purchased by the college. Ralph
Myhre took over management of the course in the 1960s and led the
development of the current layout with work commencing in 1974 and
finishing in 1978. Located in a scenic setting on rolling terrain
adjacent to the Middlebury athletics facilities, the course
features fairways that are wide open and small greens that are
either elevated or multi-tiered. The back nine was formed around
the original nine and demands shot accuracy along with a
significant amount of patience. The scorecard for the course, which
has a rating of 70.8 and a slope rating of 124, is a par-71 that
totals 6,379 yards.

Results for the NESCAC Golf Championship will be available at the
completion of each day at www.nescac.com.